A French rabbi was attacked on Friday for the second time in a week, he told Reuters, reflecting a broad rise in hate crimes across France that has included high-profile antisemitic assaults.

Elie Lemmel said he was sitting at a cafe in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Friday when he was hit in the head by a chair. Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

"I found myself on the ground, I immediately felt blood flowing," he said.

He was stunned and unsure what exactly had happened, he said, initially thinking something must have fallen from a window or roof, before it occurred to him he had been attacked.

"Unfortunately, given my beard and my kippah, I suspected that was probably why, and it's such a shame," he said.

Le Rav Elie Lemmel a été agressé

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